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2004 Iraq KBR convoy ambush
Mujahideen Shura al-Qaeda in Iraq |casualties1=5 contractors 2 soldiers killed 1 contractor missing 14 civilians and soldiers wounded |casualties2=Unknown }} The 2004 Iraq KBR convoy ambush was an attack by Iraqi insurgents on April 9, 2004 during the Iraq War on a convoy of American (supply trucks near the Baghdad International Airport. It happened in the midst of the Iraq spring fighting of 2004, which saw intensified clashes throughout the country. Overview A convoy of 26 supply trucks operated by U.S. defense contractor KBR escorted by the 13th Corps Support Command (COSCOM), United States Army. The troops were ferrying emergency jet fuel to Baghdad Airport from Camp Anaconda, 60 miles away. En route, it was attacked by insurgents, believed to be from either Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the Badr Organization, and/or the Mahdi Army. The attack damaged or destroyed numerous convoy vehicles and killed five civilian contractors and one U.S. Army soldier. One civilian contractor, Thomas Hamill, and a U.S. Army soldier Keith Matthew Maupin, were captured. Hamill later escaped from his captors and was recovered by U.S. forces. Maupin was held captive for an undetermined time before being executed. Aftermath The body of one contractor, William Bradley, was not found until 2005. Another civilian contractor, Timothy Bell, remains missing and is presumed dead. Fourteen other civilians or soldiers were wounded. Family members of two of the wounded and one of the killed civilians later sued KBR, charging that the company had knowingly placed its employees in a battle zone in spite of promises not to do so. Six other families of KBR drivers killed in Iraq later joined the suit. In April 2009, U.S. District Judge Gray Miller ruled that the plaintiffs could continue their suit against KBR and allowed KBR to include Iraqi insurgent forces in the case. The court ruled that the U.S. Army was not liable. KBR appealed the ruling.Flood, Mary, "KBR Aware Convoy In Harm's Way: Civilian plaintiffs claim e-mail shows firm valued profit above life", Houston Chronicle, November 19, 2009, p. 1. KBR has asked retired US Army Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez to testify on the company's behalf.Flood, Mary, "Ex-Commander In Iraq To Give Deposition In KBR Case", Houston Chronicle, March 4, 2010. In early 2010, KBR notified the U.S. Army that it would bill the U.S. government for any damages awards or legal expenses it incurred in relation to contract work it did in Iraq. In December 2011, KBR settled out-of-court with one of the injured drivers, Reginald Cecil Lane, for an undisclosed amount.Fisk, Margaret Cronin, and Laurel Brubaker Calkins, Bloomberg L.P., 10 January 2012. One of the contractors, Steven Fisher, a native of Brooklyn, New York, who lived in Virginia Beach, Virginia, was killed during the attack. He was carried by other contractors he worked with and bled to death in the entrance of the Baghdad International Airport from three gunshot wounds. He was 43 years old and a father of three. After Maupin was confirmed dead, Interstate 275 in Clermont County, Ohio, was officially renamed Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin Memorial Freeway in his honor. See also * Ahmed Kousay al-Taie - A U.S. Army soldier who was captured by Iraqi insurgents and executed * Wassef Ali Hassoun - A U.S. Marine who claimed to be captured by Iraqi insurgents; later discovered to be a hoax * American POWs in the 2003 invasion of Iraq * June 2006 abduction of U.S. soldiers in Iraq - Capture and execution of Kristian Menchaca and Thomas L. Tucker, two U.S. Army soldiers * Karbala provincial headquarters raid - Capture and execution of Brian Freeman, Jacob Fritz, Jonathan Chism and Shawn Falter, four U.S. Army soldiers * May 2007 abduction of U.S. soldiers in Iraq - Capture and execution of Alex Ramon Jimenez, Joseph John Anzack and Byron Wayne Fouty, three U.S. Army soldiers References External links * http://www.dailypress.com/dp-iraq-steven-scott-fisher-2,0,5805153.story * * * Iraq convoy got go-ahead despite threat * * Category:Battles of the Iraq War in 2004 Category:Battles of the Iraq War involving the United States